How do I condition my athletes without it being a burden on them and feel like a waste of valuable practice time for me the coach? Make it a competition between team members with rewards for the “best” finish. You determine what the best finish is with either a timed goal, or number of tasks completed within the allotted time.
CONDITIONING DRILLS
In basketball, for instance, one conditioning drill would be to have full length of the court layups in an allotted time. An example would be 4 full court layups in 18 seconds. Whichever team made the most in that time wins, or if the same number of layups made, which team made them in less time.
The players go all out to beat their opponents and don’t even realize they are running full court sprints. As the players get more adept at making the layups, increase the number and time goal to increase their conditioning. Ultimately you could have the players attempt 8 full court layups in 40 seconds. Players will be in great shape by the time the season started.
Another conditioning drill to consider is to have two or three relay teams with a basketball. Each player on the team had to dribble to half court and launch a shot from there, chasing after his shot and then shooting a 3 point shot. Again, after gathering his ball the player would try a free throw, and then had to shoot a layup until they made th layup. Then full speed dribbling back to the other end of the court to hand the ball off to the next team member. Each team member has to shoot a half-court, 3 point, free throw and make a layup and return dribbling the full length back. This is another example of a full court sprint drill that didn’t seem like conditioning.
Make the reward for winning something the players will find significant. Maybe they get to pick what to work on in practice, or what drills to run for a timed period, or what competitions they would like to end practice with. If they have a voice in picking what their reward is, that will promote even more effort in these conditioning drills. They will enjoy the competition and work hard, and you will include skills repetitions in your conditioning. It makes for some spirited competition and a lighter feel at practice.